The judge ordered him to report to court every week and forbade him from leaving Spain for six months, the High Court of Galicia, which is leading the investigation, said in a statement. The judge also banned him from driving trains for six months.

The train came off the line near the pilgrimage city of Santiago de Compostela and the police detained Garzon Amo on Thursday, a day after, what is touted to be the Spain's deadliest rail disaster in decades, on suspicion of reckless homicide.

He was still in hospital recovering from a light head injury, he suffered in the crash. A police car had earlier delivered him in handcuffs to the courthouse for the closed hearing.

Garzon Amo was dressed in a blue shirt and a scar was visible from his injury. Just hours before the court hearing began, regional health officials said that a woman critically injured in the crash had died in hospital, bringing the toll to 79.